Indian opener KL Rahul praised India’s dramatic six-run victory over England at The Oval, calling it one of the finest Test wins in recent memory. With the win, India managed to level the five-match Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series 2–2. Rahul emphasized the importance of this triumph, suggesting it deserves to be ranked among the greatest moments in Indian Test cricket.
Rahul ended the series as India’s third-highest run-scorer, accumulating 532 runs in 10 innings. While he acknowledged the emotional high of winning a World Cup, he noted that the grit and character shown in long-format cricket make such moments unforgettable.
“𝑾𝒆’𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝑪𝒖𝒑… 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑹𝒂𝒉𝒖𝒍. “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒘𝒆’𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍.”
He also mentioned that India’s fightback throughout the series, despite being counted out early on, was a testament to their resilience and belief.
“𝑭𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 2-2 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒘𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒑,” 𝑹𝒂𝒉𝒖𝒍 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
Rahul Backs Gill’s Leadership and Stokes Reflects on Final Loss
Rahul praised Shubman Gill for his calm and thoughtful leadership during a high-pressure series, saying the young captain is poised to take Indian Test cricket forward. He highlighted Gill’s tactical decisions and ability to connect with the team behind the scenes as key traits.
“𝑺𝒉𝒖𝒃𝒎𝒂𝒏’𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂 𝒑𝒉𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒋𝒐𝒃. 𝑯𝒆’𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒑, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒔,” 𝑹𝒂𝒉𝒖𝒍 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅. “𝑯𝒆’𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒆’𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔.”
On the English side, captain Ben Stokes, who was sidelined due to injury, lauded both teams for their spirited efforts. Watching from the sidelines, he witnessed England fall short despite being in a commanding position at 301/3 in their final innings.
Stokes commended his team’s bowling effort and called the overall series result a fair reflection of both sides’ quality. He also pointed out that the injury to Chris Woakes on Day 1 disrupted England’s bowling plans significantly.
“𝑪𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 2-2 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍,” 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑳𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒐𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕.”
Also Read: Ajay Jadeja on Shubman Gill: ‘Steady Captain, But Too Defensive’
